It's not every day you have two brand new projects premiere on back-to-back weekends, let alone on HBO. John Gallagher Jr. told Indiewire about his rapid rise to prestige, how he's diversified his acting portfolio and what's in store for the final season of "The Newsroom."

So that’s that then — the best film at the Venice Film Festival in terms of providing a great central female role (which have been in shocking short supply, at least in the selection we’ve seen so far) is not a film at all. It’s the subtle, sublime Lisa Cholodenko-directed 4-hour HBO miniseries “Oli...